FIELD SCIENCE
22 SportsTurf | May 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com
T
he athletes on your favorite
sports team are pros. Their sport
is their profession and they work
full time to condition their bod-
ies and to hone their skills so
they can be the best they can be. Their
teams and careers depend on it. They are
not part-time athletes.
The construction of a new sports
field is a major investment. The soils lab
you decide to work with for your con-
struction project will be your teammate.
Why then, would you even consider
someone or some company that only
performs these tests on a part-time
basis? Also, what assurances do you have
that the lab you are working with is even
qualified to perform the testing required
for your project?
I have wanted for some time to write
an article explaining what lab accredita-
tion is and what it can mean to those who
require soil physical testing. Now that I
am out of the testing business, I feel free
to do so without giving the impression of
promoting my own business.
Whether the field is sand- or soil-
based, testing the physical properties
of the soil- or sand-based mix is a key
component to the field's success. In the
case of the soil-based field, it may be just
a matter of finding out the soil texture
and organic matter content to provide
you or the owner with some reasonable
expectation of how the soil and field will
perform. The testing may provide some
guidance on how to improve the soil
with amendments.
The sand-based field requires more
extensive testing. Soil physical testing of
the sand-based mix and under drain-
age stone materials is a risk assessment.
Rootzone mixes that meet certain parti-
cle size and performance properties have
a much higher probability of succeed-
ing. If an experienced testing provider
is involved, it can go beyond just this
"risk assessment" to the point that an
optimum mix can be identified with the
construction materials available.
The test methods used to evaluate
mixes can be found in the American
Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM),
■ BY NORMAN W. HUMMEL, PHD
SELECTING YOUR SOIL
PHYSICAL TESTING LAB
